Expression of recombinant Pseudomonas stutzeri di-heme cytochrome c4 by high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation of Pseudomonas putida

Structure and redox properties of the diheme electron carrier cytochrome c4 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

At low oxygen concentrations, respiration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) and other bacteria relies on activity of cytochrome cbb₃ oxidases. A diheme cytochrome c₄ (cyt c₄) donates electrons to Pa cbb₃ oxidases to enable oxygen reduction and proton pumping by these enzymes. Given the importance of this redox pathway for bacterial pathogenesis, both cyt c₄ and cbb₃ oxidase are potential targets for new antibacterial strategies. The structural information about these two proteins, however, is scarce, and functional insights for Pa and other bacteria have been primarily drawn from analyses of the analogous system from Pseudomonas stutzeri (Ps). Herein, we describe characterization of structural and redox properties of cyt c₄ from Pa. The crystal structure of Pa cyt c₄ has revealed that this protein is organized in two monoheme domains. The interdomain interface is more hydrophobic in Pa cyt c₄, and the protein surface does not show the dipolar distribution of charges found in Ps cyt c₄. The reduction potentials of the two hemes are similar in Pa cyt c₄ but differ by about 100 mV in Ps cyt c₄. Analyses of structural models of these and other cyt c₄ proteins suggest that multiple factors contribute to the potential difference of the two hemes in these proteins, including solvent accessibility of the heme group, the distribution of surface charges, and the nature of the interdomain interface. The distinct properties of cyt c₄ proteins from closely-related Pa and Ps bacteria emphasize the importance of examining the cbb₃/cyt c₄ redox pathway in multiple species.

Redox properties of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from electroactive bacteria

Although the capacity for electroactive bacteria to convert environmental metallic minerals and organic pollutants is well known, the role of the redox properties of microbial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in this process is poorly understood. In this work, the redox properties of EPS from two widely present electroactive bacterial strains (Shewanella oneidensis and Pseudomonas putida) were explored. Electrochemical analysis demonstrates that the EPS extracted from the two strains exhibited redox properties. Spectroelectrochemical and protein electrophoresis analyses indicate that the extracted EPS from S. oneidensis and P. putida contained heme-binding proteins, which were identified as the possible redox components in the EPS. The results of heme-mediated behavior of EPS may provide an insight into the important roles of EPS in electroactive bacteria to maximize their redox capability for biogeochemical cycling, environmental bioremediation and wastewater treatment.

De novo production of the monoterpenoid geranic acid by metabolically engineered Pseudomonas putida

BACKGROUND

Production of monoterpenoids as valuable chemicals using recombinant microbes is a growing field of interest. Unfortunately, antimicrobial activity of most monoterpenoids hampers a wide application of microorganisms for their production. Strains of Pseudomonas putida, a fast growing and metabolically versatile bacterium, often show an outstanding high tolerance towards organic solvents and other toxic compounds. Therefore, Pseudomonas putida constitutes an attractive alternative host in comparison to conventionally used microorganisms. Here, metabolic engineering of solvent tolerant Pseudomonas putida as a novel microbial cell factory for de novo production of monoterpenoids is reported for the first time, exemplified by geranic acid production from glycerol as carbon source. The monoterpenoic acid is an attractive compound for application in the flavor, fragrance, cosmetics and agro industries.

RESULTS

A comparison between Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pseudomonas putida concerning the ability to grow in the presence of geranic acid revealed that the pseudomonad bears a superior resilience compared to the conventionally used microbes. Moreover, Pseudomonas putida DSM 12264 wildtype strain efficiently oxidized externally added geraniol to geranic acid with no further degradation. Omitting external dosage of geraniol but functionally expressing geraniol synthase (GES) from Ocimum basilicum, a first proof-of-concept for de novo biosynthesis of 1.35 mg/L geranic acid in P. putida DSM 12264 was achieved. Doubling the amount of glycerol resulted in twice the amount of product. Co-expression of the six genes of the mevalonate pathway from Myxococcus xanthus to establish flux from acetyl-CoA to the universal terpenoid precursor isopentenylpyrophosphate yielded 36 mg/L geranic acid in shake flask experiments. In the bioreactor, the recombinant strain produced 193 mg/L of geranic acid under fed-batch conditions within 48 h.

CONCLUSION

Metabolic engineering turned Pseudomonas putida DSM 12264, a versatile monoterpenoid oxidation biocatalyst, into an efficient microbial cell factory for de novo geranic acid production. Improvements by metabolic and process engineering are expected to further increase the product concentration. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first example of a de novo production of a monoterpenoid with Pseudomonas putida and of a microbial monoterpenoic acid synthesis in general.

The diheme cytochrome c(4) from Vibrio cholerae is a natural electron donor to the respiratory cbb(3) oxygen reductase

The respiratory chain of Vibrio cholerae contains three bd-type quinol oxygen reductases as well as one cbb(3) oxygen reductase. The cbb(3) oxygen reductase has been previously isolated and characterized; however, the natural mobile electron donor(s) that shuttles electrons between the bc(1) complex and the cbb(3) oxygen reductase is not known. The most likely candidates are the diheme cytochrome c(4) and monoheme cytochrome c(5), which have been previously shown to be present in the periplasm of aerobically grown cultures of V. cholerae. Both cytochromes c(4) and c(5) from V. cholerae have been cloned and expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli. It is shown that reduced cytochrome c(4) is a substrate for the purified cbb(3) oxygen reductase and can support steady state oxygen reductase activity of at least 300 e(-1)/s. In contrast, reduced cytochrome c(5) is not a good substrate for the cbb(3) oxygen reductase. Surprisingly, the dependence of the oxygen reductase activity on the concentration of cytochrome c(4) does not exhibit saturation. Global spectroscopic analysis of the time course of the oxidation of cytochrome c(4) indicates that the apparent lack of saturation is due to the strong dependence of K(M) and V(max) on the concentration of oxidized cytochrome c(4). Whether this is an artifact of the in vitro assay or has physiological significance remains unknown. Cyclic voltammetry was used to determine that the midpoint potentials of the two hemes in cytochrome c(4) are 240 and 340 mV (vs standard hydrogen electrode), similar to the electrochemical properties of other c(4)-type cytochromes. Genomic analysis shows a strong correlation between the presence of a c(4)-type cytochrome and a cbb(3) oxygen reductase within the beta- and gamma-proteobacterial clades, suggesting that cytochrome c(4) is the likely natural electron donor to the cbb(3) oxygen reductases within these organisms. These would include the beta-proteobacteria Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonnorhoeae, in which the cbb(3) oxygen reductases are the only terminal oxidases in their respiratory chains, and the gamma-proteobacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Automated feeding strategies for high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation of Pseudomonas putida KT2440

Four automatic substrate feeding strategies were developed and investigated in this study to obtain rapid, repeatable, and reliable high cell densities of Pseudomonas putida KT2440 from glucose. Growth yield data of the key nutrients, Y(X/Glucose), Y(X/NH4), Y(X/PO4), Y(X/Mg), and Y(CO2/Glucose), were determined to be 0.41, 5.44, 13.70, 236, and 0.65 g g(-1), respectively. Although standard exponential feeding strategy worked well when the predetermined mu was set at 0.25 h(-1), an exponential glucose feeding strategy with online mu(max) estimation resulted in a higher average biomass productivity (3.4 vs 2.8 g l(-1) h(-1)). A CO2 production rate based pulse glucose feeding strategy also resulted in good overall productivity (3.0 g l(-1) h(-1)) and can be used as an alternative to pH-stat or DO-stat feeding. A cumulative CO2 production based continuous feed with real-time cumulative glucose consumption estimation resulted in much higher biomass productivity (4.3 g l(-1) h(-1)) and appears to be an excellent and reliable approach to fully automating high-cell-density fed-batch cultivation of P. putida.

Reduced and oxidized cytochrome c4 exhibit differences in dynamics

The temperature-dependent dynamics of the fully reduced and fully oxidized forms of Pseudomonas stutzeri cytochrome c4 have been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy. Prior to the dynamic analysis, an efficient labelling strategy has been developed for the expression of highly enriched (57)Fe recombinant cytochrome c4. Subsequently, the protein has been purified to apparent homogeneity. Mössbauer measurements were recorded in the temperature range 77-240 K for both protein forms. A detailed analysis of the high quality spectra is presented. Based on the information obtained from Mössbauer spectroscopy, similarities and differences between cytochrome c4, cytochrome c and HiPIP are discussed. The obtained results reveal that (a) cytochrome c4 exists in pure low spin electronic configuration in both oxidation states in the temperature range 77-240 K, (b) the heme pocket is more relaxed in cytochrome c4 than in cytochrome c, (c) the reduced cytochrome c4 is the most flexible at low temperatures, and (d) protein specific dynamics are most distinct in the oxidized protein.